Christmas With Nathan (5 page)

She’d be waiting a very long time.

On the days where Susan had continuously dropped hints about a wedding I had been sorely tempted to let my evil side out and explain that it wasn’t necessary because we were already officially joined together as Dom and sub by Stella’s necklace. A chuckle left my lips as I tried to imagine poor Susan’s face if I told her the chain around her daughter’s neck was locked in place and represented that Stella belonged to me.

Of course while that might be the case for many Dom/sub couples, it was in no way a true summary of the relationship Stella and I shared; we lived as complete equals, and now that Will was here, barely spent any time in our roles of Dom and sub. I still had my cupboard of toys though. Perhaps I should show
that
to Susan. It would
really
shut her up.

On some days I missed that old lifestyle, but then I looked at everything I had gained in my life to replace it, and the longing faded. Besides, Stella enjoyed a bit of play in those roles during sex just as much as I did, so I wasn’t really missing out on anything from my previous life. Now that sex was back on the agenda, I was very much looking forward to cracking that cupboard open, dusting off a few of our favourite toys, and giving them some use again.

Stella would enjoy that too, I was certain, and a smile curved on my lips at the thought. Oh yes, I was a very, very lucky man, and I knew it.

Blinking away from my thoughts, I pulled on some blue jeans and opted for a compromise by donning one of my favourite smart grey shirts. A bit of smart to make me feel more assured and a little bit of casual to keep Stella happy because she insisted that Christmas Day should be relaxed.

Before Stella and Rebecca had come into our lives, Christmas tradition for Nicholas and I was to spend the day together. Unfortunately we wouldn’t be seeing my brother and Rebecca at all today, though, as they were in the Lake District visiting Rebecca’s family, because last Christmas they had been away in Iceland. I had, however, arranged that we would go away with them to the Cotswolds the following weekend, which was a surprise gift for Stella that I would be telling her about later when we exchanged our presents.

As it was our first year as a proper family with William, I’d put my foot down and requested that Christmas dinner be just Stella, Will, and me, but Stella’s parents had wanted to briefly pop in to exchange gifts this morning, which was fine by me. Yet another compromise. I was getting remarkably good at those nowadays.

Just as I was doing up my final button I heard the doorbell signalling the arrival of the in-laws. Jogging down the stairs I met Stella in the hall as she smiled across at me happily. She had Will on her shoulder, his eyes open and alert as if he somehow knew that the guests were here to see him, the little show-off.

Pulling open the front door, I was immediately met by a huge red poinsettia as Susan thrust the plant at me and practically smothered me with it. ‘Merry Christmas, all!’ she chimed as she climbed the last step and pulled me into a hug. Hugging relatives was still new to me, and I still hated it. I suspected I always would. So I gritted my teeth, clutched the plant like a lifeline, and stood there like a stiff plank while she had her way.

Moving from me, Susan gave a little yelp of joy as she saw William and placed a kiss on his head, half hugging Stella without squashing my baby boy. On cue, I watched her eyes as they dropped to Stella’s left hand – her ringless left hand – and then clouded with brief disappointment before she got a grip on herself. Again. It was the same every time they visited.

The woman was so predictable that I couldn’t help but let out a small snort of amusement before turning to greet Martin, who, thankfully, was far more down to earth than his wife.

FIVE

STELLA

Mum and Dad stayed long enough for a coffee and mince pie, followed up by a glass of chilled bubbly and an exchange of presents. Predictably, William had been spoilt rotten, and he now owned more clothes, toys, bibs, and blankets than one small boy could surely ever need. To be honest, I’d guessed that he would probably receive an absolute hoard, so Nathan and I had hardly bought him any gifts. We’d felt quite guilty about it at the time, but eyeing the ever-growing mountain now, it had been a very good decision.

Nathan had sat with us as we swapped gifts, but had been busy ducking in and out of the kitchen ever since, preparing our Christmas lunch – a meal I was banned from helping with because apparently he wanted to spoil me, which was just fine by me.

Once Mum and Dad had left I went back into the lounge to lie Will down on his play mat, one of the new presents he’d received, and I watched as his big blue eyes immediately tried to focus on the swinging toys above him, his small hand lifting in an uncoordinated attempt to reach out and touch one.

An arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me into Nathan’s side and causing me to look up at him. ‘What are you smiling so dreamily about?’

Giving a small giggle at being caught in my doting mum mode I shrugged lightly and looked back at Will. ‘He’s so cute. Look, his hand eye co-ordination is really improving.’ Nathan joined me in gazing down at our son and we stood there for a few minutes, watching as he kicked out his legs and gurgled his contentment.

My stomach decided to join in with the gurgling, which made Nathan chuckle beside my ear. ‘Lunch is ready. Shall we eat while he’s quiet and calm?’ he suggested, prompting me to nod keenly. After eating just one mince pie all day I was ready for some real food.

After being banned from the kitchen all morning I was finally allowed to enter the warm, delicious-smelling space, immediately inhaling a lungful of roast dinner-scented air, which had to be one of my favourite aromas in the world.

My eyes bulged from my head as I took in the spread before me – the counter was practically hidden under the array of food; a roast turkey, complete with crispy bacon covering, roast potatoes (both normal and sweet potato), sprouts, carrots, roasted parsnips, stuffing, gravy … the list went on, and on, and on. Blimey, this would feed us for days.

We ate at a small two-seater table set up in the corner of the lounge, one we’d purchased when William came along, because it allowed him to stay on his play mat or in his crib while we ate in the same room instead of having to faff about moving everything next door into the separate dining room.

Open-plan living was one of the things I was most looking forward to about the new house Nathan was building. Although I’d been heavily involved in the planning, he’d been quite secretive about the actual designs, saying he wanted it to be his surprise for me. I didn’t mind, I’d seen some of the buildings Nathan had designed before and they were all stunning, so I trusted him with the job implicitly.

Once Nathan had devoured two portions of dinner and I had practically licked my plate clean we sat in contented silence for a few minutes, listening to the crackle of the open fire and the soft notes of Christmas songs on the radio.

‘Is it present time now?’ Nathan enquired, leaning forwards as an excited glimmer entered his eyes. Turning to my handsome man I couldn’t help but smile at how boyish he suddenly looked. He might sometimes come across as all macho and impenetrable, but he loved exchanging Christmas gifts. He’d told me that Christmas with his family had never been a happy time as a child – his abusive father had given presents begrudgingly, and always made it clear they had been bought with his hard-earned cash, and not by some fictional, bearded Santa. Considering I was a pretty chilled out, peace-loving girl, I hated their father more than I’d ever thought possible.

Instead of allowing myself to become melancholy about what an awful past Nathan’d had, I gave him my biggest, happiest smile – his father was in his past, I was his present and his future, and as such it was my job to make sure he felt just as happy as he made me on a daily basis.

Flashing a quick look at William I saw he was still happily gurgling away on his mat, so I stood up and turned back to Nathan with a grin. ‘Definitely,’ I agreed, holding out a hand to help pull him up. Placing my hands on his chest, I couldn’t resist leaning up for a quick kiss. Mmm, his lips still tasted of roasted sweet potatoes, my favourite side dish from our lunch, and I gave them a quick, teasing lick before leaning back and grinning at the shocked look he was giving me.

Going to the tree, Nathan pulled out a small stack of presents and carried them to the sofa, where he patted it to indicate I join him, so with a smile I gathered his gifts and joined him.

Nathan was a difficult man to buy for; he had so much money that he could literally buy anything he desired, so I’d decided to be brave and go down the home-made route this year. There had been a few disasters along the way, but I was actually quite excited about what I had produced in the end. I wasn’t entirely sure Nathan was emotionally open enough to appreciate some of the presents, but I guess I’d soon find out.

‘Open this one first,’ he said with a smile, handing me a red envelope. Taking the thick papyrus paper from him I curiously lifted the flap and pulled out a small folded pamphlet. Looking at the front image, I saw a photograph of several gorgeous stone buildings with a backdrop of a beautiful blue sky and some hills. Flicking the cover open, a piece of paper began to slide out, which I caught and read. And then re-read, trying to absorb what it meant. It seemed to be a booking form for a reservation in some cottages in the Cotswolds, for four people, for
this
weekend. That was in just two days!

The part about four people was a little confusing, so I looked up at Nathan with a broad, curious grin on my face as I cocked my head, waiting for him to explain further.

‘I thought we deserved a little holiday,’ he murmured, sharing my smile. ‘So I’ve booked these cottages for us. Nicholas and Rebecca are coming with us, it’s our Christmas gift to them, but they already know about it because I had to check that they were free.’

‘It looks beautiful,’ I whispered, looking through the pictures of the cottages and getting an excited tremble in my stomach. As much as I loved London, and the house we currently rented, I really
loved
to get away for little breaks in the countryside. It was one of the reasons Nathan had chosen a plot of land not far from the Cotswolds to build our new house upon – it was close enough to London if he needed to commute, but rural enough that we would be able to enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle. I couldn’t wait until it was finished.

‘There’s a bit of a catch to their gift,’ Nathan added, giving me a devious look. ‘Rebecca and Nicholas get the holiday for free with the proviso that they babysit for us for an hour or two so we can spend some quality time together without interruption.’ The way Nathan’s blond eyebrows were wiggling suggestively left me in no doubt of what he had planned for our ‘quality time’, and I felt my stomach tighten in anticipation.

Quality, uninterrupted sexy time with Nathan, my favourite.

We hadn’t left William with family or a babysitter at all yet, not even for half an hour. It had felt too early, but now that he was sleeping so well and only feeding every six or so hours, it would be far easier.

‘They would have done the babysitting anyway,’ I murmured, knowing how much Rebecca and Nicholas loved spending time with Will. In fact, they had taken to him so much that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they followed us into parenthood very soon, but so far, there had been no announcement.

‘I know, but it might be a while until we get a proper holiday abroad so I thought it would be nice for us to all get away. Obviously, I still wanted William with us, I’m not really ready to leave him yet, but this way we can spend time with Nicholas and Rebecca and have a few hours to ourselves too.’

The way he’d added the phrase ‘I’m not ready to leave him yet’ warmed my heart and made me reach across and hug him tightly. Nathan had been so worried that he wouldn’t make a good dad after his own troubled childhood, but he couldn’t have been more wrong, a fact he effortlessly proved to me every single day.

‘I love it, Nathan. It’s a fabulous idea. Thank you.’ Leaning back from our hug I laid a sizzling kiss on his lips, his mouth parting mine as his arms wrapped around my waist and dragged me across onto his lap. As our breaths mingled, he groaned his happiness and I felt his groin begin to stir against my bum before he dragged his flushed face back from mine. ‘As much as I’d like to make use of this …’ he thrust his developing erection against me, making me giggle with embarrassment, ‘… I’m still really full from dinner. Let’s cool off for a while longer so I can digest, then we can resume this later.’ Flashing me a wink, his eyes then darted to the remaining pile of presents on the sofa as he grudgingly shifted me from his lap.

‘Come on then, let’s open these. Would you like some more bubbly?’

Shaking my head reluctantly, I looked at Will. ‘Better not, otherwise his next feed will be more booze than milk.’ I allowed myself a glass or two on special occasions, but I was still a bit of a lightweight since the birth and could already feel the bubbles from the earlier glass going to my head.

We opened presents for the next five minutes, and amusingly both Nathan and I were almost reduced to tears at one particular exchange: I had used paint to take a foot and hand print from William and had them framed with the slightly cheesy inscription of “Daddy’s Little Man”. Nathan didn’t seem to think it was cheesy, showing just how much he loved it by the glassy expression in his eyes as he nodded his appreciation and swallowed several times.

I’d been feeling rather smug at almost reducing my tough guy to tears, when he returned the emotional gift by handing me a small velvet box topped with a tiny pale blue bow. Upon opening it I saw a small silver bracelet and pendant, but when I pulled it out and looked more carefully I saw the pendant was actually an impression of one of Will’s teeny tiny fingerprints. On the reverse was his date of birth, printed in tiny numbers below his full name – William Thomas Jackson. Will had been Nathan’s choice, and Thomas had been mine, being the name of my much-loved granddad.